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Santa has soft spot for Lowell

By Marie Donovan, Sun Correspondent

Updated:
11/23/2012 09:36:59 AM EST

LOWELL -- Anybody who believes all Santa does in the month or so leading up to Christmas is jet back and forth between his North Pole toy factory and the mall hasn't been to the Mill City for the annual City of Lights Parade and Holiday Celebration, which takes place Saturday.

While he often gets multiple requests for simultaneous events, Santa always makes sure to get to Lowell for the parade.

"This year, we got a fire truck to ride in. Last year was very warm; we had the horse-drawn sleigh. Two years ago, the '58 Chevy Convertible we were supposed to ride in for the parade didn't work, so we had to walk the route," Santa said.

Reindeer weren't an option.

"They don't fly unless it's Christmas Eve," he explained.

Santa is a good friend of Pawtucketville grandfather of four Rene Bureau, 64. It may surprise local residents that when the jolly one isn't handling the holiday rush, he can often be found here working in sales and purchasing for a local commercial roofing company.

When he's in town, Santa loves to unwind in the great outdoors, which are relatively balmy compared to what he's used to.

"I love to fish and just relax and take life easy," he said.

In addition to Christmas visits to local homes that go back centuries and decades of staging photo ops at the mall, Santa has been making a variety of local appearances for about the past 10 years or so.

"It was always something I've wanted to do," he said.

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Santa has done the polar express at Gillette Stadium and the Lighthouse School in Chelmsford.

"I have every weekend booked from now to Christmas. I do The Lafayette Club; they bus in the seniors from various nursing homes. The kids ask for everything. A lot of them will ask for their daddy to come back from overseas, and you do what you can; you explain to them that basically, you're a toy maker, but you'll say a prayer for them," he said.

"I'm having a suit made that's camouflage, so I can do welcome home parties for the troops as a camo Santa," he added.

Not all of Santa's duds are made by elves; he even admitted he has one suit he got at a store in Hudson.

Santa said he truly loves children and marveled at how considerate some are, even asking for toys to take to their siblings who couldn't visit him due to illness.

The internationally beloved gift-giver told The Sun that he encourages parents not to force kids to sit on his lap if they're not up for it and, in a bombshell, he admitted those rosy cheeks aren't actually entirely natural.

"No, are you kidding me?" Santa said, copping to an affinity for rouge.

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